Goodnight, My Love
by Larania Drake
Summary: Cassie says goodbye to the one she loves.


****

Goodnight, My Love

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic and K.A. Applegate. Any one who has trouble reading this, I have been about to pass out for most of the day, and I haven't figured out why. I make no money from this.

The sun was coming up.

It had been sixteen long years since the end of the Andalite/yeerk war. Cassie sat on a beautiful rock ledge overlooking a valley on the Andalite home world, thinking about it.

Cassie had been one of the few early risers that back on earth had seen hundreds of sunrises, and so they had lost something that made them special, but this one was different. It was the anniversary of the last battle for earth, and so she had made a special trip back to see this one.

The strange pine green the Andalite world's night warmed to a crystal blue.

It was an old planet, one that had almost no geologic activity, and so a valley was a rare thing. The star that was its sun equally old, and its dark red light warmed Cassie's skin, filling her with life. It made her remember old days, better days, and helped ease the emptiness. 

Some.

"Hello, Jake," she whispered softly, without turning around. Even though she hadn't heard anything, she knew he was there. 

She could feel the air sigh beside her as he sat down.

Silently, for what could have been an eternity, or a second, they sat together, watching the sun come up.

"I always loved you, you know. I still do."

Jake said nothing.

"You never had to apologize for what you did, Jake. You led us through the war, and saved the humans. I still don't know how you did it."

Cassie could almost feel the tears that were running down Jake's cheeks, as if they were her own. He cried for them both.

"Do you remember the last days before that battle, Jake? I do."

They had left their home, to go to the Andalite home world. They had taken the fight off earth, to the stars. The fighting had gone on for many bitter years after that.

Finally, the tide had turned. The yeerks had been driven off Earth, and they had been held up in the Omnicron Theta system. It was their last refuge.

The Animorphs had gone with their allies to help with this last battle. There would be heavy ground fighting, and it would be the kind of fight that the Animorphs would be uniquely suited.

On their last day before they left, Cassie and Jake had come here. They wanted to have some time together under the open sky, before what would be the last battle.

"I was going to tell you what I had learned, but I decided not to. I wish I would have, so you wouldn't have had to find out later. I knew that you wouldn't have let me go, if I had told you about our daughter, so I didn't. I wish you hadn't had to find out the way you did."

"I guess now, such things seem silly. Do you remember what we did say to each other?"

"We really didn't say anything at all. We just sat here, and enjoyed each others presence, like we are now."

Cassie smiled, feeling the warmth of the sun, and she basked even more in the love she felt from Jake.

"Then, we said goodnight."

For the rest of the day they sat there, just thinking.

Cassie wondered what would have happened if things had gone differently. If only…

If only.

It was useless to wish for what could never be. She only could hope that Jake knew that she still loved him, and would love him to the end.

The sun began to set.

Tears brimming in her own eyes, and knowing that she would have to leave soon, she repeated what they had said to each other on that last sunset, sixteen years ago.

"Goodnight, my love, the light that guided my way. You were the compass that we all followed, and my heart is yours, now and forever."

Finally, in a voice made hoarse by disuse, Jake answered. 

"Goodnight, my love, the angel that guarded my soul. You helped me to remember what we were fighting for, and gave me something to come back to."

Cassie smiled, and then she was gone.

Jake was left alone on the mountain ledge, with the headstones of both his wife and his daughter. He had made the trip up here every year since their deaths. Sometimes he could even feel Cassie with him.

Fin

Comments?


End file.
